Once a Year
by RK-Striker-JK-5
Summary: The Cullens gather for Esme's favorite holiday.


A gift fic I wrote for Darthishtar on , getting put here just in case it gets erased there.

Here we go!

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"Are we done _yet_?" Rosalie uttered, looking at her fingernails. "It will take me hours to clean up after this!"

Esme flashed her a reproving look. "Rosalie, please. It's only for one day a year." She put down her trowel and steadied the sapling in its new home. She glanced up at Carlisle as he hovered over. "Got the fertilizer ready?"

"Why not make dog-boy get it?" Rosalie said, flashing a dirty look at the sole non-vampire in the group.

Jacob bared his teeth at her, eyes narrowing. "Hey, what are three blonds in a row called?"

A sudden growl from the sapling caught everyone's attention. Esme's eyes glanced around and, if possible, she would've blushed. "Sorry," she whispered, almost too low for even her family to hear. "I just want today to be a nice, peaceful day."

Rosalie and Jacob locked eyes. "I'm… sorry," Rosalie spat out. She grabbed a handful of dirt and squeezed it, compacting it into a solid mass. "Shall we-"

"Hey!" Edward shouted. He ignored everyone else as he stared at his adoptive sister. "Esme wants a nice, peaceful Arbor Day. Is it so much for you two to behave?"

Rosalie and Jacob settled down while Esme cast a grateful glance at Edward. She cleared her throat and motioned to the sapling. "We have always been aware of our destructive urges, our animalistic passions. We take from nature. Not out of malice, but simple survival. On this day, we give a little back to that which we take." Her golden eyes looked around at Edward and Isabella, at Jacob and Renesmee, at Emmet, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper and finally, her beloved Carlisle as they all stood in front of their house in Forks. "So today, we plant trees, giving life instead of taking it."

Renesmee, crouching next to Jacob with his muscular arm around her, smiled. "That was really nice, Grandma." She snuggled a bit closer to Jacob. "Don't you think?"

Jacob sighed and nodded. "Yeah." He rubbed his chin slightly. "It kinda sounds like some old Quileute legends that Billy used to tell."

Rosalie looked over at him. "I'd… like to hear about those, if you don't mind."

Jacob blinked twice before nodding. "All right, Rosalie."

Isabella stared at the two. "Did you two just… be nice to each other?"

Renesmee grinned and hugged Jacob's arm, her arms barely able to wrap around his muscular arm once. "He's a good man," she said, leaning over and kissing her husband on the lips.

The pair lingered for a moment before Jacob broke it and looked back at the sapling. He reached out and gingerly touched one of the branches. "So, now what do we do for the rest of the day?"

Edward crossed his arms and his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Jacob shrugged. "Well, you made such a _big_ deal about Arbor Day, but we planted the tree and it's not even noontime. What now?"

Emmet and Jasper snorted, both men holding their hands over their mouths. "He-he doesn't know?" Emmet blurted out between howls.

Jacob slowly rose to his full height, his hands clenching. "Mind telling me what's so funny? This is my first Arbor Day with you, after all!" he shouted, holding his arms out.

Renesmee bounded up and grabbed his arm. "Jacob, honey, Grandma likes to be… thorough with the holiday. You've seen her garden."

Jacob opened his mouth, but shut it as his ears picked up the faint sounds of a large vehicle approaching. Within minutes, a truck cab with a flatbed loaded down with trees backed up, beeping and flashing. The werewolf's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he tried-and failed-to count the number of trees on it.

The cab's engine shut down and the door swung open, allowing a young man to jump down. "Esme Cullen?" he asked, holding up a clipboard. "I have one thousand saplings for an Esme Cullen?"

Esme walked up, gliding past Jacob. "Right here," she said, smiling. She took the clipboard from the delivery man and jotted her name down before handing it back and motioning to the flatbed.

Rosalie walked up to Jacob and held out a trowel. "Will you be needing this, or can your natural instincts take over?"

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